Isoprenoid metabolism in apicomplexan parasites

Iron‑sulfur cluster biogenesis and function in Apicomplexa parasites

Iron‑sulfur cluster are ubiquitous and ancient protein cofactors that support a wide array of essential cellular functions. In eukaryotes, their assembly requires specific and dedicated machineries in each subcellular compartment. Apicomplexans are parasitic protists that are collectively responsible for a significant burden on the health of humans and other animals, and most of them harbor two organelles of endosymbiotic origin: a mitochondrion, and a plastid of high metabolic importance called the apicoplast. Consequently, apicomplexan parasites have distinct iron‑sulfur cluster assembly machineries located to their endosymbiotic organelles, as well as a cytosolic pathway. Recent findings have not only shown the importance of iron‑sulfur cluster assembly for the fitness of these parasites, but also highlighted parasite-specific features that may be promising for the development of targeted anti-parasitic strategies.

Comprehensive Insights into the Development of Antitoxoplasmosis Drugs: Current Advances, Obstacles, and Future Perspectives

Current therapies for toxoplasmosis rely on a few drugs, most of which have severe side effects, and seeking ideal therapies for different types of toxoplasmosis is a long-term and challenging mission. Research and development (R&D) of novel drugs against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) has focused on two main directions, the structural modification of lead compounds and natural products. Here we summarize the recent advances in the development of anti-T. gondii drugs from these two perspectives and provide comprehensive insights, reflecting on the advantages and selected molecules in each field. This review also focuses on the current obstacles to the development of novel anti-T. gondii agents, proposes comprehensive solutions, and facilitates future development.

The apicoplast biogenesis and metabolism: current progress and questions

Many apicomplexan parasites have a chloroplast-derived apicoplast containing several metabolic pathways. Recent studies have greatly expanded our understanding of apicoplast biogenesis and metabolism while also raising new questions. Here, we review recent progress on the biological roles of individual metabolic pathways, focusing on two medically important parasites, Plasmodium spp. and Toxoplasma gondii. We highlight the similarities and differences in how similar apicoplast metabolic pathways are utilized to adapt to different parasitic lifestyles. The execution of apicoplast metabolic functions requires extensive interactions with other subcellular compartments, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Apicoplast metabolic functions have historically been considered attractive drug targets, and a comprehensive understanding of their metabolic capacities and interactions with other organelles is essential to fully realize their potential.

Design and synthesis of non-hydroxamate lipophilic inhibitors of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR): in silico, in vitro and antibacterial studies

1-Deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) is a key enzyme of the 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway operating in several pathogens, including Mycobacterium and Plasmodium. Since a DXR homologue is not present in humans, it is an important antimicrobial target. Fosmidomycin (FSM) and its analogues inhibit DXR function by chelating the divalent metal (Mn2+ or Mg2+) in its active site via a hydroxamate metal binding group (MBG). The latter, however, enhances the polarity of molecules and is known to display metabolic instability and toxicity issues. While attempts have been made to increase the lipophilicity of FSM by substituting the linker chain and prodrug approach, very few efforts have been made to replace the hydroxamate group with other lipophilic MBGs. We report a systematic in silico and experimental investigation to identify novel MBGs for designing non-hydroxamate lipophilic DXR inhibitors. The SAR studies with selected MBG fragments identified novel inhibitors of E. Coli DXR with IC50 values ranging from 0.29 to 106 μM. The promising inhibitors were also screened against ESKAPE pathogens and M. tuberculosis.

Apicoplast-Resident Processes: Exploiting the Chink in the Armour of Plasmodium falciparum Parasites

The discovery of a relict plastid, also known as an apicoplast (apicomplexan plastid), that houses housekeeping processes and metabolic pathways critical to Plasmodium parasites' survival has prompted increased research on identifying potent inhibitors that can impinge on apicoplast-localised processes. The apicoplast is absent in humans, yet it is proposed to originate from the eukaryote's secondary endosymbiosis of a primary symbiont. This symbiotic relationship provides a favourable microenvironment for metabolic processes such as haem biosynthesis, Fe-S cluster synthesis, isoprenoid biosynthesis, fatty acid synthesis, and housekeeping processes such as DNA replication, transcription, and translation, distinct from analogous mammalian processes. Recent advancements in comprehending the biology of the apicoplast reveal it as a vulnerable organelle for malaria parasites, offering numerous potential targets for effective antimalarial therapies. We provide an overview of the metabolic processes occurring in the apicoplast and discuss the organelle as a viable antimalarial target in light of current advances in drug discovery. We further highlighted the relevance of these metabolic processes to Plasmodium falciparum during the different stages of the lifecycle.

Specific pathway abundances in the neonatal calf faecal microbiome are associated with susceptibility to Cryptosporidium parvum infection: a metagenomic analysis

BACKGROUND

Cryptosporidium parvum is the main cause of calf scour worldwide. With limited therapeutic options and research compared to other Apicomplexa, it is important to understand the parasites' biology and interactions with the host and microbiome in order to develop novel strategies against this infection. The age-dependent nature of symptomatic cryptosporidiosis suggests a link to the undeveloped immune response, the immature intestinal epithelium, and its associated microbiota. This led us to hypothesise that specific features of the early life microbiome could predict calf susceptibility to C. parvum infection.

RESULTS

In this study, a single faecal swab sample was collected from each calf within the first week of life in a cohort of 346 animals. All 346 calves were subsequently monitored for clinical signs of cryptosporidiosis, and calves that developed diarrhoea were tested for Rotavirus, Coronavirus, E. coli F5 (K99) and C. parvum by lateral flow test (LFT). A retrospective case-control approach was taken whereby a subset of healthy calves (Control group; n = 33) and calves that went on to develop clinical signs of infectious diarrhoea and test positive for C. parvum infection via LFT (Cryptosporidium-positive group; n = 32) were selected from this cohort, five of which were excluded due to low DNA quality. A metagenomic analysis was conducted on the faecal microbiomes of the control group (n = 30) and the Cryptosporidium-positive group (n = 30) prior to infection, to determine features predictive of cryptosporidiosis. Taxonomic analysis showed no significant differences in alpha diversity, beta diversity, and taxa relative abundance between controls and Cryptosporidium-positive groups. Analysis of functional potential showed pathways related to isoprenoid precursor, haem and purine biosynthesis were significantly higher in abundance in calves that later tested positive for C. parvum (q ≤ 0.25). These pathways are either absent or streamlined in the C. parvum parasites. Though the de novo production of isoprenoid precursors, haem and purines are absent, C. parvum has been shown to encode enzymes that catalyse the downstream reactions of these pathway metabolites, indicating that C. parvum may scavenge those products from an external source.

CONCLUSIONS

The host has previously been put forward as the source of essential metabolites, but our study suggests that C. parvum may also be able to harness specific metabolic pathways of the microbiota in order to survive and replicate. This finding is important as components of these microbial pathways could be exploited as potential therapeutic targets for the prevention or mitigation of cryptosporidiosis in bovine neonates.

Chemogenomic Profiling of a Plasmodium falciparum Transposon Mutant Library Reveals Shared Effects of Dihydroartemisinin and Bortezomib on Lipid Metabolism and Exported Proteins

The antimalarial activity of the frontline drug artemisinin involves generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to oxidative damage of parasite proteins. To achieve homeostasis and maintain protein quality control in the overwhelmed parasite, the ubiquitin-proteasome system kicks in. Even though molecular markers for artemisinin resistance like pfkelch13 have been identified, the intricate network of mechanisms driving resistance remains to be elucidated. Here, we report a forward genetic screening strategy that enables a broader identification of genetic factors responsible for altering sensitivity to dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and a proteasome inhibitor, bortezomib (BTZ). Using a library of isogenic piggyBac mutants in P. falciparum, we defined phenotype-genotype associations influencing drug responses and highlighted shared mechanisms between the two processes, which mainly included proteasome-mediated degradation and the lipid metabolism genes. Additional transcriptomic analysis of a DHA/BTZ-sensitive piggyBac mutant showed it is possible to find differences between the two response mechanisms on the specific components for regulation of the exportome. Our results provide further insight into the molecular mechanisms of antimalarial drug resistance. IMPORTANCE Malaria control is seriously threatened by the emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to the leading antimalarial, artemisinin. The potent killing activity of artemisinin results from oxidative damage unleashed by free heme activation released by hemoglobin digestion. Although the ubiquitin-proteasome system is considered critical for parasite survival of this toxicity, the diverse genetic changes linked to artemisinin resistance are complex and, so far, have not included the ubiquitin-proteasome system. In this study, we use a systematic forward genetic approach by screening a library of P. falciparum random piggyBac mutants to decipher the genetic factors driving malaria parasite responses to the oxidative stress caused by antimalarial drugs. This study compares phenotype-genotype associations influencing dihydroartemisinin responses with the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib to delineate the role of ubiquitin-proteasome system. Our study highlights shared and unique pathways from the complex array of molecular processes critical for P. falciparum survival resulting from the oxidative damage of artemisinin.

New insights into apicoplast metabolism in blood-stage malaria parasites

The apicoplast of Plasmodium falciparum is the only source of essential isoprenoid precursors and Coenzyme A (CoA) in the parasite. Isoprenoid precursor synthesis relies on the iron-sulfur cluster (FeS) cofactors produced within the apicoplast, rendering FeS synthesis an essential function of this organelle. Recent reports provide important insights into the roles of FeS cofactors and the use of isoprenoid precursors and CoA both inside and outside the apicoplast. Here, we review the recent insights into the roles of these metabolites in blood-stage malaria parasites and discuss new questions that have been raised in light of these discoveries.

CRISPR-based oligo recombineering prioritizes apicomplexan cysteines for drug discovery

Nucleophilic amino acids are important in covalent drug development yet underutilized as anti-microbial targets. Chemoproteomic technologies have been developed to mine chemically accessible residues via their intrinsic reactivity towards electrophilic probes but cannot discern which chemically reactive sites contribute to protein function and should therefore be prioritized for drug discovery. To address this, we have developed a CRISPR-based oligo recombineering (CORe) platform to support the rapid identification, functional prioritization and rational targeting of chemically reactive sites in haploid systems. Our approach couples protein sequence and function with biological fitness of live cells. Here we profile the electrophile sensitivity of proteinogenic cysteines in the eukaryotic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii and prioritize functional sites using CORe. Electrophile-sensitive cysteines decorating the ribosome were found to be critical for parasite growth, with target-based screening identifying a parasite-selective anti-malarial lead molecule and validating the apicomplexan translation machinery as a target for ongoing covalent ligand development.

The Heptaprenyl Diphosphate Synthase (Coq1) Is the Target of a Lipophilic Bisphosphonate That Protects Mice against Toxoplasma gondii Infection

Prenyldiphosphate synthases catalyze the reaction of allylic diphosphates with one or more isopentenyl diphosphate molecules to form compounds such as farnesyl diphosphate, used in, e.g., sterol biosynthesis and protein prenylation, as well as longer "polyprenyl" diphosphates, used in ubiquinone and menaquinone biosynthesis. Quinones play an essential role in electron transport and are associated with the inner mitochondrial membrane due to the presence of the polyprenyl group. In this work, we investigated the synthesis of the polyprenyl diphosphate that alkylates the ubiquinone ring precursor in Toxoplasma gondii, an opportunistic pathogen that causes serious disease in immunocompromised patients and the unborn fetus. The enzyme that catalyzes this early step of the ubiquinone synthesis is Coq1 (TgCoq1), and we show that it produces the C35 species heptaprenyl diphosphate. TgCoq1 localizes to the mitochondrion and is essential for in vitro T. gondii growth. We demonstrate that the growth defect of a T. gondii TgCoq1 mutant is rescued by complementation with a homologous TgCoq1 gene or with a (C45) solanesyl diphosphate synthase from Trypanosoma cruzi (TcSPPS). We find that a lipophilic bisphosphonate (BPH-1218) inhibits T. gondii growth at low-nanomolar concentrations, while overexpression of the TgCoq1 enzyme dramatically reduced growth inhibition by the bisphosphonate. Both the severe growth defect of the mutant and the inhibition by BPH-1218 were rescued by supplementation with a long-chain (C30) ubiquinone (UQ6). Importantly, BPH-1218 also protected mice against a lethal T. gondii infection. TgCoq1 thus represents a potential drug target that could be exploited for improved chemotherapy of toxoplasmosis. IMPORTANCE Millions of people are infected with Toxoplasma gondii, and the available treatment for toxoplasmosis is not ideal. Most of the drugs currently used are only effective for the acute infection, and treatment can trigger serious side effects requiring changes in the therapeutic approach. There is, therefore, a compelling need for safe and effective treatments for toxoplasmosis. In this work, we characterize an enzyme of the mitochondrion of T. gondii that can be inhibited by an isoprenoid pathway inhibitor. We present evidence that demonstrates that inhibition of the enzyme is linked to parasite death. In addition, the inhibitor can protect mice against a lethal dose of T. gondii. Our results thus reveal a promising chemotherapeutic target for the development of new medicines for toxoplasmosis.

The ferredoxin redox system - an essential electron distributing hub in the apicoplast of Apicomplexa

The apicoplast, a relict plastid found in most species of the phylum Apicomplexa, harbors the ferredoxin redox system which supplies electrons to enzymes of various metabolic pathways in this organelle. Recent reports in Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium falciparum have shown that the iron-sulfur cluster (FeS)-containing ferredoxin is essential in tachyzoite and blood-stage parasites, respectively. Here we review ferredoxin's crucial contribution to isoprenoid and lipoate biosynthesis as well as tRNA modification in the apicoplast, highlighting similarities and differences between the two species. We also discuss ferredoxin's potential role in the initial reductive steps required for FeS synthesis as well as recent evidence that offers an explanation for how NADPH required by the redox system might be generated in Plasmodium spp.

GAPDH mediates drug resistance and metabolism in Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites

Efforts to control the global malaria health crisis are undermined by antimalarial resistance. Identifying mechanisms of resistance will uncover the underlying biology of the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites that allow evasion of our most promising therapeutics and may reveal new drug targets. We utilized fosmidomycin (FSM) as a chemical inhibitor of plastidial isoprenoid biosynthesis through the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway. We have thus identified an unusual metabolic regulation scheme in the malaria parasite through the essential glycolytic enzyme, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Two parallel genetic screens converged on independent but functionally analogous resistance alleles in GAPDH. Metabolic profiling of FSM-resistant gapdh mutant parasites indicates that neither of these mutations disrupt overall glycolytic output. While FSM-resistant GAPDH variant proteins are catalytically active, they have reduced assembly into the homotetrameric state favored by wild-type GAPDH. Disrupted oligomerization of FSM-resistant GAPDH variant proteins is accompanied by altered enzymatic cooperativity and reduced susceptibility to inhibition by free heme. Together, our data identifies a new genetic biomarker of FSM-resistance and reveals the central role of GAPDH in MEP pathway control and antimalarial sensitivity.

Malaria is a life-threatening mosquito-borne infection that remains an enormous public health threat worldwide, with over 600,000 deaths reported in 2020 alone. The parasites that cause malaria invade and replicate within human red blood cells. This unique environment provides the malaria parasite with almost unlimited supply of sugar in the form of glucose, which the parasite uses for energy and as building blocks to grow and divide. Parasites break down glucose, and must use these breakdown products to make new molecules, including a very important class of compounds called isoprenoids. Malaria parasites normally die when they are treated with a drug, called fosmidomycin, that inhibits this process. To understand how parasites regulate this critical function, in this study we identified parasites that were resistant to fosmidomycin. These fosmidomycin-resistant cells had mutations in an enzyme that is critical for sugar breakdown, called glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). We find that parasites with mutant GAPDH enzymes still break down sugar normally, but are not inhibited by other changes in the cell that happen upon fosmidomycin treatment. These results reveal a new and important role for the enzyme GAPDH as a control-point for downstream metabolism in malaria parasites.

Disrupting the plastidic iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis pathway in Toxoplasma gondii has pleiotropic effects irreversibly impacting parasite viability

Like many other apicomplexan parasites, Toxoplasma gondii contains a plastid harboring key metabolic pathways, including the sulfur utilization factor (SUF) pathway that is involved in the biosynthesis of iron-sulfur clusters. These cofactors are crucial for a variety of proteins involved in important metabolic reactions, potentially including plastidic pathways for the synthesis of isoprenoid and fatty acids. It was shown previously that impairing the NFS2 cysteine desulfurase, involved in the first step of the SUF pathway, leads to an irreversible killing of intracellular parasites. However, the metabolic impact of disrupting the pathway remained unexplored. Here, we generated another mutant of this pathway, deficient in the SUFC ATPase, and investigated in details the phenotypic consequences of TgNFS2 and TgSUFC depletion on the parasites. Our analysis confirms that Toxoplasma SUF mutants are severely and irreversibly impacted in division and membrane homeostasis, and suggests a defect in apicoplast-generated fatty acids. However, we show that increased scavenging from the host or supplementation with exogenous fatty acids do not fully restore parasite growth, suggesting that this is not the primary cause for the demise of the parasites and that other important cellular functions were affected. For instance, we also show that the SUF pathway is key for generating the isoprenoid-derived precursors necessary for the proper targeting of GPI-anchored proteins and for parasite motility. Thus, we conclude plastid-generated iron-sulfur clusters support the functions of proteins involved in several vital downstream cellular pathways, which implies the SUF machinery may be explored for new potential anti-Toxoplasma targets.

Characterization of Domiphen Bromide as a New Fast-Acting Antiplasmodial Agent Inhibiting the Apicoplastidic Methyl Erythritol Phosphate Pathway

The evolution of resistance by the malaria parasite to artemisinin, the key component of the combination therapy strategies that are at the core of current antimalarial treatments, calls for the urgent identification of new fast-acting antimalarials. The apicoplast organelle is a preferred target of antimalarial drugs because it contains biochemical processes absent from the human host. Fosmidomycin is the only drug in clinical trials targeting the apicoplast, where it inhibits the methyl erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway. Here, we characterized the antiplasmodial activity of domiphen bromide (DB), another MEP pathway inhibitor with a rapid mode of action that arrests the in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum at the early trophozoite stage. Metabolomic analysis of the MEP pathway and Krebs cycle intermediates in 20 µM DB-treated parasites suggested a rapid activation of glycolysis with a concomitant decrease in mitochondrial activity, consistent with a rapid killing of the pathogen. These results present DB as a model compound for the development of new, potentially interesting drugs for future antimalarial combination therapies.

Critical role for isoprenoids in apicoplast biogenesis by malaria parasites

Isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) is an essential metabolic output of the apicoplast organelle in Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites and is required for prenylation-dependent vesicular trafficking and other cellular processes. We have elucidated a critical and previously uncharacterized role for IPP in apicoplast biogenesis. Inhibiting IPP synthesis blocks apicoplast elongation and inheritance by daughter merozoites, and apicoplast biogenesis is rescued by exogenous IPP and polyprenols. Knockout of the only known isoprenoid-dependent apicoplast pathway, tRNA prenylation by MiaA, has no effect on blood-stage parasites and thus cannot explain apicoplast reliance on IPP. However, we have localized an annotated polyprenyl synthase (PPS) to the apicoplast. PPS knockdown is lethal to parasites, rescued by IPP and long- (C₅₀) but not short-chain (≤C₂₀) prenyl alcohols, and blocks apicoplast biogenesis, thus explaining apicoplast dependence on isoprenoid synthesis. We hypothesize that PPS synthesizes long-chain polyprenols critical for apicoplast membrane fluidity and biogenesis. This work critically expands the paradigm for isoprenoid utilization in malaria parasites and identifies a novel essential branch of apicoplast metabolism suitable for therapeutic targeting.

Toxoplasma gondii apicoplast-resident ferredoxin is an essential electron transfer protein for the MEP isoprenoid-biosynthetic pathway

Apicomplexan parasites, such as Toxoplasma gondii, are unusual in that each cell contains a single apicoplast, a plastid-like organelle that compartmentalizes enzymes involved in the essential 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis. The last two enzymatic steps in this organellar pathway require electrons from a redox carrier. However, the small iron-sulfur cluster-containing protein ferredoxin, a likely candidate for this function, has not been investigated in this context. We show here that inducible knockdown of T. gondii ferredoxin results in progressive inhibition of growth and eventual parasite death. Surprisingly, this phenotype is not accompanied by ultrastructural changes in the apicoplast or overall cell morphology. The knockdown of ferredoxin was instead associated with a dramatic decrease in cellular levels of the last two metabolites in isoprenoid biosynthesis, 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)- butenyl-4-pyrophosphate, and isomeric dimethylallyl pyrophosphate/isopentenyl pyrophosphate. Ferredoxin depletion was also observed to impair gliding motility, consistent with isoprenoid metabolites being important for dolichol biosynthesis, protein prenylation, and modification of other proteins involved in motility. Significantly, pharmacological inhibition of isoprenoid synthesis of the host cell exacerbated the impact of ferredoxin depletion on parasite replication, suggesting that the slow onset of parasite death after ferredoxin depletion is because of isoprenoid scavenging from the host cell and leading to partial compensation of the depleted parasite metabolites upon ferredoxin knockdown. Overall, these findings show that ferredoxin has an essential physiological function as an electron donor for the 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate pathway and is a potential drug target for apicomplexan parasites.

The genome of a nonphotosynthetic diatom provides insights into the metabolic shift to heterotrophy and constraints on the loss of photosynthesis

Although most of the tens of thousands of diatom species are photoautotrophs, a small number of heterotrophic species no longer photosynthesize. We sequenced the genome of a nonphotosynthetic diatom, Nitzschia Nitz4, to determine how carbon metabolism was altered in the wake of this trophic shift. Nitzschia Nitz4 has retained its plastid and plastid genome, but changes associated with the transition to heterotrophy were cellular-wide and included losses of photosynthesis-related genes from the nuclear and plastid genomes, elimination of isoprenoid biosynthesis in the plastid, and remodeling of mitochondrial glycolysis to maximize adenosine triphosphte (ATP) yield. The genome contains a β-ketoadipate pathway that may allow Nitzschia Nitz4 to metabolize lignin-derived compounds. Diatom plastids lack an oxidative pentose phosphate pathway (oPPP), leaving photosynthesis as the primary source of NADPH to support essential biosynthetic pathways in the plastid and, by extension, limiting available sources of NADPH in nonphotosynthetic plastids. The genome revealed similarities between nonphotosynthetic diatoms and apicomplexan parasites for provisioning NADPH in their plastids and highlighted the ancestral absence of a plastid oPPP as a potentially important constraint on loss of photosynthesis, a hypothesis supported by the higher frequency of transitions to parasitism or heterotrophy in lineages that have a plastid oPPP.

Differential contribution of two organelles of endosymbiotic origin to iron-sulfur cluster synthesis and overall fitness in Toxoplasma

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are one of the most ancient and ubiquitous prosthetic groups, and they are required by a variety of proteins involved in important metabolic processes. Apicomplexan parasites have inherited different plastidic and mitochondrial Fe-S clusters biosynthesis pathways through endosymbiosis. We have investigated the relative contributions of these pathways to the fitness of Toxoplasma gondii, an apicomplexan parasite causing disease in humans, by generating specific mutants. Phenotypic analysis and quantitative proteomics allowed us to highlight notable differences in these mutants. Both Fe-S cluster synthesis pathways are necessary for optimal parasite growth in vitro, but their disruption leads to markedly different fates: impairment of the plastidic pathway leads to a loss of the organelle and to parasite death, while disruption of the mitochondrial pathway trigger differentiation into a stress resistance stage. This highlights that otherwise similar biochemical pathways hosted by different sub-cellular compartments can have very different contributions to the biology of the parasites, which is something to consider when exploring novel strategies for therapeutic intervention.

The apicoplast link to fever-survival and artemisinin-resistance in the malaria parasite

The emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum parasites resistant to front-line antimalarial artemisinin-combination therapies (ACT) threatens to erase the considerable gains against the disease of the last decade. Here, we develop a large-scale phenotypic screening pipeline and use it to carry out a large-scale forward-genetic phenotype screen in P. falciparum to identify genes allowing parasites to survive febrile temperatures. Screening identifies more than 200 P. falciparum mutants with differential responses to increased temperature. These mutants are more likely to be sensitive to artemisinin derivatives as well as to heightened oxidative stress. Major processes critical for P. falciparum tolerance to febrile temperatures and artemisinin include highly essential, conserved pathways associated with protein-folding, heat shock and proteasome-mediated degradation, and unexpectedly, isoprenoid biosynthesis, which originated from the ancestral genome of the parasite’s algal endosymbiont-derived plastid, the apicoplast. Apicoplast-targeted genes in general are upregulated in response to heat shock, as are other Plasmodium genes with orthologs in plant and algal genomes. Plasmodium falciparum parasites appear to exploit their innate febrile-response mechanisms to mediate resistance to artemisinin. Both responses depend on endosymbiont-derived genes in the parasite’s genome, suggesting a link to the evolutionary origins of Plasmodium parasites in free-living ancestors.

Repeating fever is a hallmark of malaria. Here, a large-scale forward genetic screen in malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum identifies genes associated with parasite tolerance to host fever, including apicoplast targeted isoprenoid biosynthesis—sharing features with artemisinin resistance.

Assessment of Isoprene as a Possible Biosignature Gas in Exoplanets with Anoxic Atmospheres

The search for possible biosignature gases in habitable exoplanet atmospheres is accelerating, although actual observations are likely years away. This work adds isoprene, C₅H₈, to the roster of biosignature gases. We found that isoprene geochemical formation is highly thermodynamically disfavored and has no known abiotic false positives. The isoprene production rate on Earth rivals that of methane (CH₄; ∼500 Tg/year). Unlike methane, on Earth isoprene is rapidly destroyed by oxygen-containing radicals. Although isoprene is predominantly produced by deciduous trees, isoprene production is ubiquitous to a diverse array of evolutionary distant organisms, from bacteria to plants and animals-few, if any, volatile secondary metabolites have a larger evolutionary reach. Although non-photochemical sinks of isoprene may exist, such as degradation of isoprene by life or other high deposition rates, destruction of isoprene in an anoxic atmosphere is mainly driven by photochemistry. Motivated by the concept that isoprene might accumulate in anoxic environments, we model the photochemistry and spectroscopic detection of isoprene in habitable temperature, rocky exoplanet anoxic atmospheres with a variety of atmosphere compositions under different host star ultraviolet fluxes. Limited by an assumed 10 ppm instrument noise floor, habitable atmosphere characterization when using James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is only achievable with a transit signal similar or larger than that for a super-Earth-sized exoplanet transiting an M dwarf star with an H₂-dominated atmosphere. Unfortunately, isoprene cannot accumulate to detectable abundance without entering a run-away phase, which occurs at a very high production rate, ∼100 times the Earth's production rate. In this run-away scenario, isoprene will accumulate to >100 ppm, and its spectral features are detectable with ∼20 JWST transits. One caveat is that some isoprene spectral features are hard to distinguish from those of methane and also from other hydrocarbons containing the isoprene substructure. Despite these challenges, isoprene is worth adding to the menu of potential biosignature gases.

The Complete Genome of Nocardia seriolae MH196537 and Intra-Species Level as Analyzed by Comparative Genomics Based on Random Forest Algorithm

Nocardiosis is a major problem affecting fish that are farmed in seacages as well as freshwater fish; therefore, deciphering the bacteriological features of Nocardia seriolae is crucial. In particular, a number of studies over the past two years have reported the genome sequence of N. seriolae, and a comparative genomics approach is expected to yield valuable information on its epidemiological characteristics. The purpose of this study was to perform whole-genome sequence analysis of N. seriolae MH196537 from the Japanese eel and to investigate the significant differences noted between strains isolated from freshwater fish and marine fish by using Random Forest, a reliable machine learning algorithm. The Pacbio platform was employed to sequence the MH196537 strain, and genomic information from the other 16 strains was used for comparative analyses. All coding sequences of the 17 strains were categorized in RASTtk Sub-systems. The MH196537 strain had one contig, and it shared a high average nucleotide identity (ANI) with the freshwater strains (0.9994 - 0.9999) rather than the seawater strains (0.9985 - 0.9994). Moreover, 22 RASTtk subsystems carried a different number of genes from each N. seriolae. The fatty acids, lipids, and isoprenoids subsystem showed the highest mean decrease in the Gini index of over 1.5. Interestingly, freshwater strains were found to harbor all of the genes for both the mevalonate (MVA) and non-mevalonate pathways (MEP), whereas only the MEP existed in strains from diseased marine fish. Considering the differences in the byproducts of isoprenoids from the different pathways, it is likely that this will affect host-pathogen interactions; therefore, harboring the different pathways for the synthesis of isoprenoids could be an important pathogenic factor of N. seriolae.

Degradation of the Escherichia coli Essential Proteins DapB and Dxr Results in Oxidative Stress, which Contributes to Lethality through Incomplete Base Excision Repair

Various lethal stresses, including bactericidal antibiotics, can trigger the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that contribute to killing. Incomplete base excision repair (BER) of oxidized nucleotides, especially 8-oxo-dG, has been identified as a major component of ROS-induced lethality. However, the relative contributions of this pathway to death vary widely between stresses, due in part to poorly understood complex differences in the physiological changes caused by these stresses. To identify new lethal stresses that kill cells through this pathway, we screened an essential protein degradation library and found that depletion of either DapB or Dxr leads to cell death through incomplete BER; the contribution of this pathway to overall cell death is greater for DapB than for Dxr. Depletion of either protein generates oxidative stress, which increases incorporation of 8-oxo-dG into the genome. This oxidative stress is causally related to cell death, as plating on an antioxidant provided a protective effect. Moreover, incomplete BER was central to this cell death, as mutants lacking the key BER DNA glycosylases MutM and MutY were less susceptible, while overexpression of the nucleotide sanitizer MutT, which degrades 8-oxo-dGTP to prevent its incorporation, was protective. RNA sequencing of cells depleted of these proteins revealed widely different transcriptional responses to these stresses. Our discovery that oxidative stress-induced incomplete BER is highly dependent on the exact physiological changes that the cell experiences helps explain the past confusion that arose concerning the role of ROS in antibiotic lethality. IMPORTANCE Bacterial cell death is a poorly understood process. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an apparently common response to challenges by a wide variety of lethal stresses, including bactericidal antibiotics. Incomplete BER of nucleotides damaged by these ROS, especially 8-oxo-dG, is a significant contributing factor to this lethality, but the levels of its contribution vary widely between different lethal stresses. A better understanding of the conditions that cause cells to die because of incomplete BER may lead to improved strategies for targeting this mode of death as an adjunct to antimicrobial therapy.

Essential Genes of the Parasitic Apicomplexa

Genome-scale mutagenesis screens for genes essential for apicomplexan parasite survival have been completed in three species: Plasmodium falciparum, the major human malaria parasite, Plasmodium berghei, a model rodent malaria parasite, and the more distantly related Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis. These three species share 2606 single-copy orthologs, 1500 of which have essentiality data in all three screens. In this review, we explore the overlap between these datasets to define the core essential genes of the phylum Apicomplexa. We further discuss the implications of these groundbreaking studies for understanding apicomplexan parasite biology, and we identify promising areas of focus for developing new pan-apicomplexan parasite interventions.

Control of human toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is caused by Toxoplasma gondii, an apicomplexan parasite that is able to infect any nucleated cell in any warm-blooded animal. Toxoplasma gondii infects around 2 billion people and, whilst only a small percentage of infected people will suffer serious disease, the prevalence of the parasite makes it one of the most damaging zoonotic diseases in the world. Toxoplasmosis is a disease with multiple manifestations: it can cause a fatal encephalitis in immunosuppressed people; if first contracted during pregnancy, it can cause miscarriage or congenital defects in the neonate; and it can cause serious ocular disease, even in immunocompetent people. The disease has a complex epidemiology, being transmitted by ingestion of oocysts that are shed in the faeces of definitive feline hosts and contaminate water, soil and crops, or by consumption of intracellular cysts in undercooked meat from intermediate hosts. In this review we examine current and future approaches to control toxoplasmosis, which encompass a variety of measures that target different components of the life cycle of T. gondii. These include: education programs about the parasite and avoidance of contact with infectious stages; biosecurity and sanitation to ensure food and water safety; chemo- and immunotherapeutics to control active infections and disease; prophylactic options to prevent acquisition of infection by livestock and cyst formation in meat; and vaccines to prevent shedding of oocysts by definitive feline hosts.

Proteome size reduction in Apicomplexans is linked with loss of DNA repair and host redundant pathways

Apicomplexans are alveolate parasites which include Plasmodium falciparum, the main cause of malaria, one of the world's biggest killers from infectious disease. Apicomplexans are characterized by a reduction in proteome size, which appears to result from metabolic and functional simplification, commensurate with their parasitic lifestyle. However, other factors may also help to explain gene loss such as population bottlenecks experienced during transmission, and the effect of reducing the overall genomic information content. The latter constitutes an 'informational constraint', which is proposed to exert a selective pressure to evolve and maintain genes involved in informational fidelity and error correction, proportional to the quantity of information in the genome (which approximates to proteome size). The dynamics of gene loss was examined in 41 Apicomplexan genomes using orthogroup analysis. We show that loss of genes involved in amino acid metabolism and steroid biosynthesis can be explained by metabolic redundancy with the host. We also show that there is a marked tendency to lose DNA repair genes as proteome size is reduced. This may be explained by a reduction in size of the informational constraint and can help to explain elevated mutation rates in pathogens with reduced genome size. Multiple Sequentially Markovian Coalescent (MSMC) analysis indicates a recent bottleneck, consistent with predictions generated using allele-based population genetics approaches, implying that relaxed selection pressure due to reduced population size might have contributed to gene loss. However, the non-randomness of pathways that are lost challenges this scenario. Lastly, we identify unique orthogroups in malaria-causing Plasmodium species that infect humans, with a high proportion of membrane associated proteins. Thus, orthogroup analysis appears useful for identifying novel candidate pathogenic factors in parasites, when there is a wide sample of genomes available.

Non-hydroxamate inhibitors of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR): A critical review and future perspective

1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) catalyzes the second step of the non-mevalonate (or MEP) pathway that functions in several organisms and plants for the synthesis of isoprenoids. DXR is essential for the survival of multiple pathogenic bacteria/parasites, including those that cause tuberculosis and malaria in humans. DXR function is inhibited by fosmidomycin (1), a natural product, which forms a chelate with the active site divalent metal (Mg²⁺/Mn²⁺) through its hydroxamate metal-binding group (MBG). Most of the potent DXR inhibitors are structurally similar to 1 and retain hydroxamate despite the unfavourable pharmacokinetic and toxicity profile of the latter. We provide our perspective on the lack of non-hydroxamate DXR inhibitors. We also highlight the fundamental flaws in the design of MBG in these molecules, primarily responsible for their failure to inhibit DXR. We also suggest that for designing next-generation non-hydroxamate DXR inhibitors, approaches followed for other metalloenzymes targets may be exploited.

Retargeting azithromycin analogues to have dual-modality antimalarial activity

BACKGROUND

Resistance to front-line antimalarials (artemisinin combination therapies) is spreading, and development of new drug treatment strategies to rapidly kill Plasmodium spp. malaria parasites is urgently needed. Azithromycin is a clinically used macrolide antibiotic proposed as a partner drug for combination therapy in malaria, which has also been tested as monotherapy. However, its slow-killing 'delayed-death' activity against the parasite's apicoplast organelle and suboptimal activity as monotherapy limit its application as a potential malaria treatment. Here, we explore a panel of azithromycin analogues and demonstrate that chemical modifications can be used to greatly improve the speed and potency of antimalarial action.

RESULTS

Investigation of 84 azithromycin analogues revealed nanomolar quick-killing potency directed against the very earliest stage of parasite development within red blood cells. Indeed, the best analogue exhibited 1600-fold higher potency than azithromycin with less than 48 hrs treatment in vitro. Analogues were effective against zoonotic Plasmodium knowlesi malaria parasites and against both multi-drug and artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum lines. Metabolomic profiles of azithromycin analogue-treated parasites suggested activity in the parasite food vacuole and mitochondria were disrupted. Moreover, unlike the food vacuole-targeting drug chloroquine, azithromycin and analogues were active across blood-stage development, including merozoite invasion, suggesting that these macrolides have a multi-factorial mechanism of quick-killing activity. The positioning of functional groups added to azithromycin and its quick-killing analogues altered their activity against bacterial-like ribosomes but had minimal change on 'quick-killing' activity. Apicoplast minus parasites remained susceptible to both azithromycin and its analogues, further demonstrating that quick-killing is independent of apicoplast-targeting, delayed-death activity.

CONCLUSION

We show that azithromycin and analogues can rapidly kill malaria parasite asexual blood stages via a fast action mechanism. Development of azithromycin and analogues as antimalarials offers the possibility of targeting parasites through both a quick-killing and delayed-death mechanism of action in a single, multifactorial chemotype.

Computational Chemogenomics Drug Repositioning Strategy Enables the Discovery of Epirubicin as a New Repurposed Hit for Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax

Widespread resistance against antimalarial drugs thwarts current efforts for controlling the disease and urges the discovery of new effective treatments. Drug repositioning is increasingly becoming an attractive strategy since it can reduce costs, risks, and time-to-market. Herein, we have used this strategy to identify novel antimalarial hits. We used a comparative in silico chemogenomics approach to select Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax proteins as potential drug targets and analyzed them using a computer-assisted drug repositioning pipeline to identify approved drugs with potential antimalarial activity.

Widespread resistance against antimalarial drugs thwarts current efforts for controlling the disease and urges the discovery of new effective treatments. Drug repositioning is increasingly becoming an attractive strategy since it can reduce costs, risks, and time-to-market. Herein, we have used this strategy to identify novel antimalarial hits. We used a comparative in silico chemogenomics approach to select Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax proteins as potential drug targets and analyzed them using a computer-assisted drug repositioning pipeline to identify approved drugs with potential antimalarial activity. Among the seven drugs identified as promising antimalarial candidates, the anthracycline epirubicin was selected for further experimental validation. Epirubicin was shown to be potent in vitro against sensitive and multidrug-resistant P. falciparum strains and P. vivax field isolates in the nanomolar range, as well as being effective against an in vivo murine model of Plasmodium yoelii. Transmission-blocking activity was observed for epirubicin in vitro and in vivo. Finally, using yeast-based haploinsufficiency chemical genomic profiling, we aimed to get insights into the mechanism of action of epirubicin. Beyond the target predicted in silico (a DNA gyrase in the apicoplast), functional assays suggested a GlcNac-1-P-transferase (GPT) enzyme as a potential target. Docking calculations predicted the binding mode of epirubicin with DNA gyrase and GPT proteins. Epirubicin is originally an antitumoral agent and presents associated toxicity. However, its antiplasmodial activity against not only P. falciparum but also P. vivax in different stages of the parasite life cycle supports the use of this drug as a scaffold for hit-to-lead optimization in malaria drug discovery.

The NTP generating activity of pyruvate kinase II is critical for apicoplast maintenance in Plasmodium falciparum

The apicoplast of Plasmodium falciparum parasites is believed to rely on the import of three-carbon phosphate compounds for use in organelle anabolic pathways, in addition to the generation of energy and reducing power within the organelle. We generated a series of genetic deletions in an apicoplast metabolic bypass line to determine which genes involved in apicoplast carbon metabolism are required for blood-stage parasite survival and organelle maintenance. We found that pyruvate kinase II (PyrKII) is essential for organelle maintenance, but that production of pyruvate by PyrKII is not responsible for this phenomenon. Enzymatic characterization of PyrKII revealed activity against all NDPs and dNDPs tested, suggesting that it may be capable of generating a broad range of nucleotide triphosphates. Conditional mislocalization of PyrKII resulted in decreased transcript levels within the apicoplast that preceded organelle disruption, suggesting that PyrKII is required for organelle maintenance due to its role in nucleotide triphosphate generation.

Novel drug targets for treatment of cryptosporidiosis

Introduction Cryptosporidium species are protozoan parasites that are important causes of diarrheal disease including waterborne outbreaks, childhood diarrhea in resource-poor countries, and diarrhea in compromised hosts worldwide. Recent studies highlight the importance of cryptosporidiosis in childhood diarrhea, malnutrition, and death in resource-poor countries. Despite this, only a single drug, nitazoxanide, has demonstrated efficacy in human cryptosporidiosis and its efficacy is limited in malnourished children and patients with HIV. Areas covered In this review, we highlight work on potential targets for chemotherapy and review progress on drug development. A number of new targets have been identified for chemotherapy and progress has been made at developing drugs for these targets. Targets include parasite kinases, nucleic acid synthesis and processing, proteases, and lipid metabolism. Other groups have performed high-throughput screening to identify potential drugs. Several compounds have advanced to large animal studies. Expert opinion Development of drugs for cryptosporidiosis has been plagued by a lack of success. Barriers have included poor correlations between in vitro activity and clinical success as well as frequent unanticipated adverse effects. Without a clear pathway forward, it is wise to maintain a diverse development pipeline. Drug developers should also realize that success will likely require a sustained, methodical effort.

Inhibitory Effects of Fosmidomycin Against Babesia microti in vitro

Babesia microti, the main pathogen causing human babesiosis, has been reported to exhibit resistance to the traditional treatment of azithromycin + atovaquone and clindamycin + quinine, suggesting the necessity of developing new drugs. The methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway, a unique pathway in apicomplexan parasites, was shown to play a crucial function in the growth of Plasmodium falciparum. In the MEP pathway, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) is a rate-limiting enzyme and fosmidomycin (FSM) is a reported inhibitor for this enzyme. DXR has been shown as an antimalarial drug target, but no report is available on B. microti DXR (BmDXR). Here BmDXR was cloned, sequenced, analyzed by bioinformatics, and evaluated as a potential drug target for inhibiting the growth of B. micorti in vitro. Drug assay was performed by adding different concentrations of FSM in B. microti in vitro culture. Rescue experiment was done by supplementing 200 μM isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) or 5 μM geranylgeraniol (GG-ol) in the culture medium together with 5 μM FSM or 10 μM diminazene aceturate. The results indicated that FSM can inhibit the growth of B. microti in in vitro culture with an IC50 of 4.63 ± 0.12 μM, and growth can be restored by both IPP and GG-ol. Additionally, FSM is shown to inhibit the growth of parasites by suppressing the DXR activity, which agreed with the reported results of other apicomplexan parasites. Our results suggest the potential of DXR as a drug target for controlling B. microti and that FSM can inhibit the growth of B. microti in vitro.

Prenylquinones in Human Parasitic Protozoa: Biosynthesis, Physiological Functions, and Potential as Chemotherapeutic Targets

Human parasitic protozoa cause a large number of diseases worldwide and, for some of these diseases, there are no effective treatments to date, and drug resistance has been observed. For these reasons, the discovery of new etiological treatments is necessary. In this sense, parasitic metabolic pathways that are absent in vertebrate hosts would be interesting research candidates for the identification of new drug targets. Most likely due to the protozoa variability, uncertain phylogenetic origin, endosymbiotic events, and evolutionary pressure for adaptation to adverse environments, a surprising variety of prenylquinones can be found within these organisms. These compounds are involved in essential metabolic reactions in organisms, for example, prevention of lipoperoxidation, participation in the mitochondrial respiratory chain or as enzymatic cofactors. This review will describe several prenylquinones that have been previously characterized in human pathogenic protozoa. Among all existing prenylquinones, this review is focused on ubiquinone, menaquinone, tocopherols, chlorobiumquinone, and thermoplasmaquinone. This review will also discuss the biosynthesis of prenylquinones, starting from the isoprenic side chains to the aromatic head group precursors. The isoprenic side chain biosynthesis maybe come from mevalonate or non-mevalonate pathways as well as leucine dependent pathways for isoprenoid biosynthesis. Finally, the isoprenic chains elongation and prenylquinone aromatic precursors origins from amino acid degradation or the shikimate pathway is reviewed. The phylogenetic distribution and what is known about the biological functions of these compounds among species will be described, as will the therapeutic strategies associated with prenylquinone metabolism in protozoan parasites.

Apicomplexan-like parasites are polyphyletic and widely but selectively dependent on cryptic plastid organelles

The phylum Apicomplexa comprises human pathogens such as Plasmodium but is also an under-explored hotspot of evolutionary diversity central to understanding the origins of parasitism and non-photosynthetic plastids. We generated single-cell transcriptomes for all major apicomplexan groups lacking large-scale sequence data. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that apicomplexan-like parasites are polyphyletic and their similar morphologies emerged convergently at least three times. Gregarines and eugregarines are monophyletic, against most expectations, and rhytidocystids and Eleutheroschizon are sister lineages to medically important taxa. Although previously unrecognized, plastids in deep-branching apicomplexans are common, and they contain some of the most divergent and AT-rich genomes ever found. In eugregarines, however, plastids are either abnormally reduced or absent, thus increasing known plastid losses in eukaryotes from two to four. Environmental sequences of ten novel plastid lineages and structural innovations in plastid proteins confirm that plastids in apicomplexans and their relatives are widespread and share a common, photosynthetic origin.

Microscopic parasites known collectively as apicomplexans are responsible for several infectious diseases in humans including malaria and toxoplasmosis. The cells of the malaria parasite and many other apicomplexans contain compartments known as cryptic chloroplasts that produce molecules the parasites need to survive. Cryptic chloroplasts are similar to the chloroplasts found in plant cells, but unlike plants the compartments in apicomplexans are unable to harvest energy from sunlight.

Since the cells of humans and other animals do not contain chloroplasts, cryptic chloroplasts are a potential target for new drugs to treat diseases caused by apicomplexans. However, it remains unclear how widespread cryptic chloroplasts are in these parasites, largely because few apicomplexans have been successfully grown in the laboratory.

To address this question, Janouškovec et al. used an approach called single-cell transcriptomics to study ten different apicomplexans. This provided new data about the genetic make-up of each parasite that the team analysed to find out how they are related to one another. The analysis revealed that, unexpectedly, apicomplexan parasites do not share a close common ancestor and are therefore not a natural grouping from an evolutionary perspective. Instead, their similar physical appearances and lifestyles evolved independently on at least three separate occasions.

Further analysis demonstrated that cryptic chloroplasts are common in apicomplexan parasites, including in lineages where they were not previously known to exist. However, at least three lineages of apicomplexans have independently lost their cryptic chloroplasts.

The findings of Janouškovec et al. shed new light on the importance of chloroplasts in the evolution of life and may help develop new treatments for diseases caused by apicomplexan parasites. Several drugs targeting the cryptic chloroplasts in malaria parasites are currently in clinical trials, and this work suggests that these drugs may also have the potential to be used against other apicomplexan parasites in the future.

Subcellular Compartments Interplay for Carbon and Nitrogen Allocation in Chromera velia and Vitrella brassicaformis

Endosymbioses necessitate functional cooperation of cellular compartments to avoid pathway redundancy and streamline the control of biological processes. To gain insight into the metabolic compartmentation in chromerids, phototrophic relatives to apicomplexan parasites, we prepared a reference set of proteins probably localized to mitochondria, cytosol, and the plastid, taking advantage of available genomic and transcriptomic data. Training of prediction algorithms with the reference set now allows a genome-wide analysis of protein localization in Chromera velia and Vitrella brassicaformis. We confirm that the chromerid plastids house enzymatic pathways needed for their maintenance and photosynthetic activity, but for carbon and nitrogen allocation, metabolite exchange is necessary with the cytosol and mitochondria. This indeed suggests that the regulatory mechanisms operate in the cytosol to control carbon metabolism based on the availability of both light and nutrients. We discuss that this arrangement is largely shared with apicomplexans and dinoflagellates, possibly stemming from a common ancestral metabolic architecture, and supports the mixotrophy of the chromerid algae.

Farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase is essential for the promastigote and amastigote stages in Leishmania major

Isoprenoid synthesis provides a diverse class of biomolecules including sterols, dolichols, ubiquinones and prenyl groups. The enzyme farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS) catalyzes the formation of farnesyl pyrophosphate, a key intermediate for the biosynthesis of all isoprenoids. In Leishmania, FPPS is considered the main target of nitrogen containing bisphosphonates, yet the essentiality of this enzyme remains untested. Using a facilitated knockout approach, we carried out the genetic analysis of FPPS in Leishmania major. Our data indicated that chromosomal null mutants for FPPS could only be generated in presence of an episomally expressed FPPS. Long-term retention of the episome by the chromosomal FPPS-null mutants in culture and in infected BALB/c mice suggests that FPPS is indispensable. In addition, applying negative selection pressure failed to induce the loss of ectopic FPPS in the chromosomal FPPS-null mutants, although it led to significant growth delay in culture and in mice. Together, our findings have confirmed the essentiality of FPPS in both promastigotes and amastigotes in L. major and thus validate its potential as a drug target for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Genomic Deoxyxylulose Phosphate Reductoisomerase (DXR) Mutations Conferring Resistance to the Antimalarial Drug Fosmidomycin in E. coli

Sequence to activity mapping technologies are rapidly developing, enabling the generation and isolation of mutations conferring novel phenotypes. Here we used the CRISPR enabled trackable genome engineering (CREATE) technology to investigate the inhibition of the essential ispC gene in its native genomic context in Escherichia coli. We created a full saturation library of 33 sites proximal to the ligand binding pocket and challenged this library with the antimalarial drug fosmidomycin, which targets the ispC gene product, DXR. This selection is especially challenging since it is relatively weak in E. coli, with multiple naturally occurring pathways for resistance. We identified several previously unreported mutations that confer fosmidomycin resistance, in highly conserved sites that also exist in pathogens including the malaria-inducing Plasmodium falciparum. This approach may have implications for the isolation of resistance-conferring mutations and may affect the design of future generations of fosmidomycin-based drugs.

Suppression of Drug Resistance Reveals a Genetic Mechanism of Metabolic Plasticity in Malaria Parasites

In the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, synthesis of isoprenoids from glycolytic intermediates is essential for survival. The antimalarial fosmidomycin (FSM) inhibits isoprenoid synthesis. In P. falciparum, we identified a loss-of-function mutation in HAD2 (P. falciparum 3D7_1226300 [PF3D7_1226300]) as necessary for FSM resistance. Enzymatic characterization revealed that HAD2, a member of the haloacid dehalogenase-like hydrolase (HAD) superfamily, is a phosphatase. Harnessing a growth defect in resistant parasites, we selected for suppression of HAD2-mediated FSM resistance and uncovered hypomorphic suppressor mutations in the locus encoding the glycolytic enzyme phosphofructokinase 9 (PFK9). Metabolic profiling demonstrated that FSM resistance is achieved via increased steady-state levels of methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway and glycolytic intermediates and confirmed reduced PFK9 function in the suppressed strains. We identified HAD2 as a novel regulator of malaria parasite metabolism and drug sensitivity and uncovered PFK9 as a novel site of genetic metabolic plasticity in the parasite. Our report informs the biological functions of an evolutionarily conserved family of metabolic regulators and reveals a previously undescribed strategy by which malaria parasites adapt to cellular metabolic dysregulation.IMPORTANCE Unique and essential aspects of parasite metabolism are excellent targets for development of new antimalarials. An improved understanding of parasite metabolism and drug resistance mechanisms is urgently needed. The antibiotic fosmidomycin targets the synthesis of essential isoprenoid compounds from glucose and is a candidate for antimalarial development. Our report identifies a novel mechanism of drug resistance and further describes a family of metabolic regulators in the parasite. Using a novel forward genetic approach, we also uncovered mutations that suppress drug resistance in the glycolytic enzyme PFK9. Thus, we identify an unexpected genetic mechanism of adaptation to metabolic insult that influences parasite fitness and tolerance of antimalarials.

Metabolic interactions between Toxoplasma gondii and its host

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa that infects all warm-blooded animals, including humans. T. gondii can replicate in every nucleated host cell by orchestrating metabolic interactions to derive crucial nutrients. In this review, we summarize the current status of known metabolic interactions of T. gondii with its host cell and discuss open questions and promising experimental approaches that will allow further dissection of the host-parasite interface and discovery of ways to efficiently target both tachyzoite and bradyzoite forms of T. gondii, which are associated with acute and chronic infection, respectively.

The MEP pathway in Babesia orientalis apicoplast, a potential target for anti-babesiosis drug development

BACKGROUND

The apicomplexan parasite Babesia orientalis, the causative agent of water buffalo babesiosis in China, is widespread in central and south China, resulting in a huge economic loss annually. Currently, there is no effective vaccine or drug against this disease. Babesia bovis and Plasmodium falciparum were reported to possess an apicoplast which contains the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway inhibitable by fosmidomycin, suggesting that the pathway could serve as a drug target for screening new drugs. However, it remains unknown in B. orientalis.

METHODS

Primers were designed according to the seven MEP pathway genes of Babesia microti and Babesia bovis. The genes were cloned, sequenced and analyzed. The open reading frames (ORFs) of the first two enzyme genes, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (BoDXS) and 1-Deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (BoDXR), were cloned into the pET-32a expression vector and expressed as a Trx-tag fusion protein. Rabbit anti-rBoDXS and rabbit anti-rBoDXR antibodies were generated. Western blot was performed to identify the native proteins of BoDXS and BoDXR in B. orientalis. Fosmidomycin and geranylgeraniol were used for inhibition assay and rescue assay, respectively, in the in vitro cultivation of B. orientalis.

RESULTS

The seven enzyme genes of the B. orientalis MEP pathway (DXS, DXR, IspD, IspE, IspF, IspG and IspH) were cloned and sequenced, with a full length of 2094, 1554, 1344, 1521, 654, 1932 and 1056 bp, respectively. BoDXS and BoDXR were expressed as Trx-tag fusion proteins, with a size of 95 and 67 kDa, respectively. Western blot identified a 77 kDa band for the native BoDXS and a 49 kDa band for the native BoDXR. The drug assay results showed that fosmidomycin could inhibit the growth of B. orientalis, and geranylgeraniol could reverse the effect of fosmidomycin.

CONCLUSIONS

Babesia orientalis has the isoprenoid biosynthesis pathway, which could be a potential drug target for controlling and curing babesiosis. Considering the high price and instability of fosmidomycin, further studies should focus on the screening of stable and cheap drugs.

Novel treatment strategies and drugs in development for cryptosporidiosis

INTRODUCTION

Cryptosporidium is a protozoan pathogen that can cause diarrheal disease in healthy and immunosuppressed individuals, worldwide. Recent studies have highlighted the impact of cryptosporidiosis on children in resource-limited countries. Nitazoxanide is the only Food and Drug Administration approved treatment, but it is not consistently effective therapy for cryptosporidiosis in the most vulnerable populations. Areas covered: This review focused on recent published studies evaluating novel drugs and new compounds for the treatment of cryptosporidiosis. Expert commentary: Combinations of approved drugs have demonstrated some activity. Broad screens have demonstrated activity against Cryptosporidium for a number of available drugs, including statins and clofazimine, and the latter has advanced into clinical trials. Cryptosporidium calcium-dependent protein kinase 1 (CDPK1) has been identified as an attractive target for treatment, and bumped kinase inhibitors have been developed which inhibit CDPK1 and are active against Cryptosporidium growth both in vitro and in vivo. Inhibition of Plasmodium lipid kinase PI(4)K8 of Cryptosporidium by KDU731 greatly reduced oocyst shedding and improved diarrhea in calves with limited effects on the human PI(4)K. Another novel potent inhibitor MMV665917 was efficacious in mouse models with cidal activity against Cryptosporidium. Additional compounds have proved active in vitro. So far, only clofazimine has entered human trials.

Structural modeling identifies Plasmodium vivax 4-diphosphocytidyl-2C-methyl-d-erythritol kinase (IspE) as a plausible new antimalarial drug target

Malaria parasites utilize Methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway for synthesis of isoprenoid precursors which are essential for maturation and survival of parasites during erythrocytic and gametocytic stages. The absence of MEP pathway in the human host establishes MEP pathway enzymes as a repertoire of essential drug targets. The fourth enzyme, 4-diphosphocytidyl-2C-methyl-d-erythritol kinase (IspE) has been proved essential in pathogenic bacteria, however; it has not yet been studied in any Plasmodium species. This study was undertaken to investigate genetic polymorphism and concomitant structural implications of the Plasmodium vivax IspE (PvIspE) by employing sequencing, modeling and bioinformatics approach. We report that PvIspE gene displayed six non-synonymous mutations which were restricted to non-conserved regions within the gene from seven topographically distinct malaria-endemic regions of India. Phylogenetic studies reflected that PvIspE occupies unique status within Plasmodia genus and reflects that Plasmodium vivax IspE gene has a distant and non-conserved relation with human ortholog Mevalonate Kinase (MAVK). Structural modeling analysis revealed that all PvIspE Indian isolates have critically conserved canonical galacto-homoserine-mevalonate-phosphomevalonate kinase (GHMP) domain within the active site lying in a deep cleft sandwiched between ATP and CDPME-binding domains. The active core region was highly conserved among all clinical isolates, may be due to >60% β-pleated rigid architecture. The mapped structural analysis revealed the critically conserved active site of PvIspE, both sequence, and spacially among all Indian isolates; showing no significant changes in the active site. Our study strengthens the candidature of Plasmodium vivax IspE enzyme as a future target for novel antimalarials.

Effect of oregano essential oil and carvacrol on Cryptosporidium parvum infectivity in HCT-8 cells

Cryptosporidium parvum is the second leading cause of persistent diarrhea among children in low-resource settings. This study examined the effect of oregano essential oil (OEO) and carvacrol (CV) on inhibition of C. parvum infectivity in vitro. HCT-8 cells were seeded (1×10⁶) in 96-well microtiter plates until confluency. Cell viability and infectivity were assessed by seeding HCT-8 cell monolayers with C. parvum oocysts (1×10⁴) in two modalities: 1) 4h co-culture with bioactive (0-250μg/mL) followed by washing and incubation (48h, 37°C, 5% CO₂) in bioactive-free media; and 2) 4h co-culture of C. parvum oocysts followed by washing and treatment with bioactive (0-250μg/mL) during 48-h incubation. Cell viability was tested using Live/Dead™ assay whereas infectivity was measured using C. parvum-specific antibody staining via immunofluorescence detection. Loss of cell viability was observed starting at 125μg/mL and 60μg/mL for OEO and CV, respectively. Neither OEO nor CV modulated the invasion of C. parvum sporozoites in HCT-8 cells. Treatment with bioactive after invasion reduced relative C. parvum infectivity in a dose-dependent manner to 55.6±10.4% and 45.8±4.1% at 60 and 30μg/mL of OEO and CV, respectively. OEO and CV are potential bioactives to counteract C. parvum infection in children.

Relict plastidic metabolic process as a potential therapeutic target

The alignment of the evolutionary history of parasites with that of plants provides a different panorama in the drug development process. The housing of different metabolic processes, essential for parasite survival, adds to the indispensability of the apicoplast. The different pathways responsible for fueling the apicoplast and parasite offer a myriad of proteins responsible for the apicoplast function. The studies emphasizing the target-based approaches might help in the discovery of antimalarials. The different putative drug targets and their roles are highlighted. In addition, the origin of the apicoplast and metabolic processes are reviewed and the different drugs acting upon the enzymes of the apicoplast are discussed.

MEPicides: potent antimalarial prodrugs targeting isoprenoid biosynthesis

The emergence of Plasmodium falciparum resistant to frontline therapeutics has prompted efforts to identify and validate agents with novel mechanisms of action. MEPicides represent a new class of antimalarials that inhibit enzymes of the methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis, including the clinically validated target, deoxyxylulose phosphate reductoisomerase (Dxr). Here we describe RCB-185, a lipophilic prodrug with nanomolar activity against asexual parasites. Growth of P. falciparum treated with RCB-185 was rescued by isoprenoid precursor supplementation, and treatment substantially reduced metabolite levels downstream of the Dxr enzyme. In addition, parasites that produced higher levels of the Dxr substrate were resistant to RCB-185. Notably, environmental isolates resistant to current therapies remained sensitive to RCB-185, the compound effectively treated sexually-committed parasites, and was both safe and efficacious in malaria-infected mice. Collectively, our data demonstrate that RCB-185 potently and selectively inhibits Dxr in P. falciparum, and represents a promising lead compound for further drug development.

Novel Plasmodium falciparum metabolic network reconstruction identifies shifts associated with clinical antimalarial resistance

Background

Malaria remains a major public health burden and resistance has emerged to every antimalarial on the market, including the frontline drug, artemisinin. Our limited understanding of Plasmodium biology hinders the elucidation of resistance mechanisms. In this regard, systems biology approaches can facilitate the integration of existing experimental knowledge and further understanding of these mechanisms.

Results

Here, we developed a novel genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction, iPfal17, of the asexual blood-stage P. falciparum parasite to expand our understanding of metabolic changes that support resistance. We identified 11 metabolic tasks to evaluate iPfal17 performance. Flux balance analysis and simulation of gene knockouts and enzyme inhibition predict candidate drug targets unique to resistant parasites. Moreover, integration of clinical parasite transcriptomes into the iPfal17 reconstruction reveals patterns associated with antimalarial resistance. These results predict that artemisinin sensitive and resistant parasites differentially utilize scavenging and biosynthetic pathways for multiple essential metabolites, including folate and polyamines. Our findings are consistent with experimental literature, while generating novel hypotheses about artemisinin resistance and parasite biology. We detect evidence that resistant parasites maintain greater metabolic flexibility, perhaps representing an incomplete transition to the metabolic state most appropriate for nutrient-rich blood.

Conclusion

Using this systems biology approach, we identify metabolic shifts that arise with or in support of the resistant phenotype. This perspective allows us to more productively analyze and interpret clinical expression data for the identification of candidate drug targets for the treatment of resistant parasites.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3905-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A Historical Overview of Research on Babesia orientalis, a Protozoan Parasite Infecting Water Buffalo

Babesiosis is a globally important zoonotic disease caused by tick-borne intraerythrocytic protozoan of the genus Babesia (phylum apicomplexa). In China, there are five species that infect cattle buffalo and cause great economic loss, which include Babesia bigemina, B. bovis, B. major, B. ovata, and B. orientalis. Among them, B. orientalis is the most recently identified new Babesia species epidemic in China. This review summarized the work done in the past 33 years to give an overview of what learned about this parasite. This parasitic protozoan was found in 1984 in Central and South China and then named as B. orientalis in 1997 based on its differences in transmitting host, morphology, pathogenicity and characteristics of in vitro cultivation when compared with B. bigemina and B. bovis. It was found that Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides is the transmitting vector and water buffalo is the only reported host. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 18S rRNA gene also confirmed that B. orientalis is a new species. After species verification, four diagnostic methods including semi-nest PCR, loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay, reverse line blot hybridization assay, and real-time PCR were established for lab and field use purposes. Genomic sequencing was conducted and the complete genomes of mitochondria and apicoplast were annotated. Future work will be focused on developing effective vaccines, identifying drug targets and screening useful drugs for controlling B. orientalis in water buffalo.

Plant hormone cytokinins control cell cycle progression and plastid replication in apicomplexan parasites

Cytokinins are plant hormones that are involved in regulation of cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and cell and plastid development. Here, we show that the apicomplexan parasites Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium berghei, an opportunistic human pathogen and a rodent malaria agent, respectively, produce cytokinins via a biosynthetic pathway similar to that in plants. Cytokinins regulate the growth and cell cycle progression of T. gondii by mediating expression of the cyclin gene TgCYC4. A natural form of cytokinin, trans-zeatin (t-zeatin), upregulated expression of this cyclin, while a synthetic cytokinin, thidiazuron, downregulated its expression. Immunofluorescence microscopy and quantitative PCR analysis showed that t-zeatin increased the genome-copy number of apicoplast, which are non-photosynthetic plastid, in the parasite, while thidiazuron led to their disappearance. Thidiazuron inhibited growth of T. gondii and Plasmodium falciparum, a human malaria parasite, suggesting that thidiazuron has therapeutic potential as an inhibitor of apicomplexan parasites.

Structure-Activity Relationships of the MEPicides: N-Acyl and O-Linked Analogs of FR900098 as Inhibitors of Dxr from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Yersinia pestis

Despite continued research efforts, the threat of drug resistance from a variety of bacteria continues to plague clinical communities. Discovery and validation of novel biochemical targets will facilitate development of new drugs to combat these organisms. The methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway to make isoprene units is a biosynthetic pathway essential to many bacteria. We and others have explored inhibitors of the MEP pathway as novel antibacterial agents. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, and Yersinia pestis, resulting in the plague or "black death", both rely on the MEP pathway for isoprene production. 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (Dxr) catalyzes the first committed step in the MEP pathway. We examined two series of Dxr inhibitors based on the parent structure of the retrohydroxamate natural product FR900098. The compounds contain either an extended N-acyl or O-linked alkyl/aryl group and are designed to act as bisubstrate inhibitors of the enzyme. While nearly all of the compounds inhibited both Mtb and Yp Dxr to some extent, compounds generally displayed more potent inhibition against the Yp homologue, with the best analogs displaying nanomolar IC50 values. In bacterial growth inhibition assays, the phosphonic acids generally resulted in poor antibacterial activity, likely a reflection of inadequate permeability. Accordingly, diethyl and dipivaloyloxymethyl (POM) prodrug esters of these compounds were made. While the added lipophilicity did not enhance Yersinia activity, the compounds showed significantly improved antitubercular activities. The most potent compounds have Mtb MIC values of 3-12 μg/mL. Taken together, we have uncovered two series of analogs that potently inhibit Dxr homologues from Mtb and Yp. These inhibitors of the MEP pathway, termed MEPicides, serve as leads for future analog development.

Evolution of mitosome metabolism and invasion-related proteins in Cryptosporidium

Background

The switch from photosynthetic or predatory to parasitic life strategies by apicomplexans is accompanied with a reductive evolution of genomes and losses of metabolic capabilities. Cryptosporidium is an extreme example of reductive evolution among apicomplexans, with losses of both the mitosome genome and many metabolic pathways. Previous observations on reductive evolution were largely based on comparative studies of various groups of apicomplexans. In this study, we sequenced two divergent Cryptosporidium species and conducted a comparative genomic analysis to infer the reductive evolution of metabolic pathways and differential evolution of invasion-related proteins within the Cryptosporidium lineage.

Results

In energy metabolism, Cryptosporidium species differ from each other mostly in mitosome metabolic pathways. Compared with C. parvum and C. hominis, C. andersoni possesses more aerobic metabolism and a conventional electron transport chain, whereas C. ubiquitum has further reductions in ubiquinone and polyisprenoid biosynthesis and has lost both the conventional and alternative electron transport systems. For invasion-associated proteins, similar to C. hominis, a reduction in the number of genes encoding secreted MEDLE and insulinase-like proteins in the subtelomeric regions of chromosomes 5 and 6 was also observed in C. ubiquitum and C. andersoni, whereas mucin-type glycoproteins are highly divergent between the gastric C. andersoni and intestinal Cryptosporidium species.

Conclusions

Results of the study suggest that rapidly evolving mitosome metabolism and secreted invasion-related proteins could be involved in tissue tropism and host specificity in Cryptosporidium spp. The finding of progressive reduction in mitosome metabolism among Cryptosporidium species improves our knowledge of organelle evolution within apicomplexans.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3343-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Molecular Mechanism of Action of Antimalarial Benzoisothiazolones: Species-Selective Inhibitors of the Plasmodium spp. MEP Pathway enzyme, IspD

The methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway is an essential metabolic pathway found in malaria parasites, but absent in mammals, making it a highly attractive target for the discovery of novel and selective antimalarial therapies. Using high-throughput screening, we have identified 2-phenyl benzo[d]isothiazol-3(2H)-ones as species-selective inhibitors of Plasmodium spp. 2-C-methyl-_D-erythritol-4-phosphate cytidyltransferase (IspD), the third catalytic enzyme of the MEP pathway. 2-Phenyl benzo[d]isothiazol-3(2H)-ones display nanomolar inhibitory activity against P. falciparum and P. vivax IspD and prevent the growth of P. falciparum in culture, with EC₅₀ values below 400 nM. In silico modeling, along with enzymatic, genetic and crystallographic studies, have established a mechanism-of-action involving initial non-covalent recognition of inhibitors at the IspD binding site, followed by disulfide bond formation through attack of an active site cysteine residue on the benzo[d]isothiazol-3(2H)-one core. The species-selective inhibitory activity of these small molecules against Plasmodium spp. IspD and cultured parasites suggests they have potential as lead compounds in the pursuit of novel drugs to treat malaria.